Week 1 - Tyler McNeill

I began my immersion term working with Dr. Mathias Bostrom at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) slightly more slowly than expected, as I was faced with a few administrative issues that I am continuing to handle. Hopefully, next week I’ll be able to engage in more of the routine happenings throughout the clinic, operating room, and lab!

These logistical issues have made it difficult to fully engage myself in many of the different facets of the hospital, so I’ve spent my week reviewing literature on the two areas that Dr. Bostrom’s research focuses on: periprosthetic joint infections (PJIs) and osseointegration of orthopaedic implants. Since our lab in Ithaca and Dr. Bostrom’s lab at the Hospital for Special Surgery have a long history of collaboration, I found it interesting to dive deeper into the different areas that Dr. Bostrom studies. This gave me the chance to more fully understand the work of the lab members that we’ve collaborated with on many different occasions throughout the past academic year.

In order to become more familiar with the faces that work in orthopaedics at the Hospital for Special Surgery—as well as more of the people that our lab collaborates with regularly—I attended the first annual HSS-Cornell Engineering in Orthopaedics Program Retreat this week (Figure 1). Organized by Dr. Timothy Wright, Dr. Suzanne Maher, Dr. Lawrence Bonassar, and Dr. Marjolein van der Meulen, the main purpose of this retreat was to provide an overview of the specific research interests of individuals engaged in orthopaedic work at both the Cornell University campus in Ithaca and the Hospital for Special Surgery. These overviews were designed to help identify areas in which collaborations could be fostered.

Figure 1: Image from the introduction of the first annual HSS-Cornell Engineering in Orthopaedics Program Retreat, taken by Dr. Marjolein van der Meulen.

By attending this event, I was able to learn about the different work that goes on at the Hospital for Special Surgery. I found it interesting to learn about the breadth of research that goes on in the field of orthopaedics between these two campuses. I also found it surprising how, despite this huge range of work currently being studied, there are still a variety of areas that remain relatively unexplored by the current research staff at Cornell University and the Hospital of Special Surgery. This meeting also provided me with an overview of the different orthopaedic-based group meetings that occur on the Cornell and HSS campuses throughout the year, such as the Orthopaedic Soft Tissue Meeting and the Arthroplasty Research Group Meeting.

From the information provided during this retreat, I was able to attend the Arthroplasty Research Group Meeting on Thursday of this week. The meeting was organized into two separate sections. The first section provided an overview of a case study in which different successes and possibilities for development were discussed while the second focused on a lecture-based discussion of surgical techniques. I have never worked in a hospital environment, so it was fascinating to see the dynamics during case study discussion as they compare to those of academic case studies. The lecture portion of the meeting focused on the comparative benefits of direct anterior approach and posterior approach to arthroplasty surgeries. Coincidentally, I wrote about the relative successes of each of these approaches during my preparation for the immersion term in Core Concepts of Disease, so it was nice to get to hear a first-hand discussion of both from field experts.

Outside of work, I’ve enjoyed my time exploring New York City and taking in all of the different sights (as well as tasting a lot of the different food offerings)! Earlier this week, Mariela and I saw the Book of Mormon on Broadway; I’m hoping to see more Broadway shows throughout my time in the city. In addition, I was able to explore the Museum of Modern Art with Garrett, Emily, and Mariela before it shuts down next week to begin renovations. I’m excited to continue exploring the city during my time outside of lab and the OR!